A Year Ago on Beneath the Tangles

Art by 梅田いるか

A year ago…we celebrated passion week with a series on everyone’s favorite cross-gun-wielding priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, examining his role versus Vash’s, diving into a terrific fanfic exploring his faith, and pondering about Yasuhiro Nightow’s personal faith.

A year ago…guest writers graciously continued to contribute to the Aniblogger Testimony project, including a blogger whose personal belief involves ghost worship, Buddhism, and science…

…a manga reviewer who is an Orthodox Christian…

…a Christian who has suffered through many personal struggles…

…and an atheist.

Art by hitsu

A year ago…Puella Magi Madoka Magica came to its conclusion, and we linked to the plethora of posts mentioning the spiritual elements of the finale and to 2DT’s in particular.  I also wrote about Christian connections in the show, specifically in episode 7 and the final one.

A year ago…I interviewed a graduate student in Harvard who has written extensively on spirituality in Miyazaki films…

…and also a pastor whose anime review site has become an imminent one on the Internet.

A year ago…a frequent contributor (now co-blogger) posted one of his best writings, a piece on Saint Seiya…

…and I posted one of our most popular ones, on AnoHana.

Art by のぞみ

“A Year Ago” is a regular series on Beneath the Tangles which links to posts from the site written around this date last year.

Spirituality in the Anime Blogosphere: Shinto Perspectives in Spirited Away

Can you believe that it’s been 10 years since Spirited Away was released in the U.S.?  I remember going to see it in the theaters – I was the sole dissenter, deciding to view the film on my own rather than join my friends to watch The Ring.  It was certainly one of the best movie experiences I’ve ever hard.

Winner of "best drawing EVER" (Art by 月穂)

Much has been made about the Shinto references in the film, by a wide range of individuals, including scholars, reviewers and of course, bloggers.  Here on this blog, I interviewed Jolyon Thomas, PhD candidate at Princeton, who wrote an article about religion in Miyazaki films, including in Spirited Away.

Here are other articles discussing religion as presented in this film:

Academic

1. Shinto Perspectives in Miyazaki’s Anime Film “Spirited Away”
by James W. Boyd and Tetsuya Nishimura
The Journal of Religion and Film

This feature, plus the portrayal of various other folk beliefs and Shrine Shinto perspectives, suggests that Miyazaki is affirming some basic Japanese cultural values which can be a source of confidence and renewal for contemporary viewers.

Complete article

Princess Mononoke: Ashitaka and the Fruit of Peace

平和. 평화. שלום.

Heiwa. Pyonghwa. Shalom.

Peace is a beautiful word, but an agonizing one as well. It’s something we desire, something we feel should be, but like Mayuri Shiina reaching up toward the sky, it’s impossibly out of reach. World peace is a dream. Inner peace may be, too, but that doesn’t stop many of the world religions from making this a (or the) focus of their faiths.

However, peace doesn’t instantly come to mind when thinking of some religions. Islam carries the weight of a violent connotation associated with its religion. I’m reading a book (when I say reading, I mean I’ve read about a chapter a year for the last 7 years) about how Islam is really a peaceful religion; the fact that such books even have to be written tells us something about how nonbelievers feel. The same can be said of Christianity, which has been forever stained with violent events like the Crusades and the Inquisition.

Nonetheless, the actions of people in the name of religion often tell us more about them and their society than about their faith. And in that vein, I’m here to say that in a significant way, Christianity is all about peace – within ourselves, with other people, and most of all (and all trickling downward from), peace with God.

When I think about peace in terms of anime, one character rises in my mind above all – Ashitaka, the noble prince from Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Princess Mononoke. In his journey, Ashitaka makes peace in each of the three ways mentioned above.  Hit the jump to read more about the third fruit in our “Fruits of the Spirit” series: peace.

Ashitaka's calm exterior hid inner pains (Art by レンキ＠ついった)

Yuri the Princess of Lies, an Impossible Anime Dream, and the Christianizing of Princess Mononoke

Draggle continues to draw connections to Gnosticism in Mawaru Penguindrum, but this time also quotes Milton and discusses the “Princess of Lies” connection with the “Prince of Lies.”  Vucubcaquix investigates the parallel between Yuri and Satan even further, calling it the “most provocative idea in this episode.”

Zeroe4 reflects on the impossibility of his dream to create anime, before emphasizing his faith and his willingness to fight for it.

Daniel Mumby graciously offers apologies for those offended by his earlier analysis of Christian themes in several Miyazaki films.

Spirituality in Miyazaki’s Films: An Interview with Jolyon Thomas

My writing on anime and Christianity is largely reflective and personal.  However, there are a number of individuals in academia who have written extensively on anime and religion.  One such scholar is Jolyon Baraka Thomas, who graciously agreed to an interview with me.  I discovered his writings through an excellent article he wrote about Hayao Miyazaki and religion.  Below is a short bio from his site.

Jolyon Baraka Thomas is a Ph.D. candidate in Religion at Princeton University. His research focuses on Japanese religions in the modern period, with particular interest in religion and media and the relationships between religion, law, and the state. Thomas has published articles and book chapters on religious aspects of the culture surrounding manga and anime, and his first book on the subject is forthcoming. His developing doctoral dissertation examines the implementation of the concept of religious freedom in Japan during the first half of the twentieth century.

JBT: First off, thanks very much for your interest in my work. I hope that you and your readers/contributors find my answers helpful. I included some links in my answers; please note that I put the family names of Japanese people other than Miyazaki in small caps just to be clear about the name order.

My Favorite Things

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Christmas songs are inescapable during the holiday season.  But in the midst of typical musical fare, there are gems that don’t get played all too often in December.  For instance, a favorite of mine is “My Favorite Things,” from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music, and made famous by Julie Andrews.  I thought I’d take this beloved song and break it down, ~Anime Dance Style (<— non-sensical subtitle):

Azu-nyan playing a wicked guitar riff;
Naru carelessly giving out Christmas gifts;
Angels complete with halos and gray wings;
These are a few of my favorite things.

Konno’s falling number as she does time leaps;
Nausicaa flying over valleys and peaks;
Toradora! volume two tied with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the kids cry,
When the bills come,
When my wife is mad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Androids and humans, no discrimination;
Solemn meetings at a wintry train station;
Takizawa becomes Japan’s first king;
These are a few of my favorite things.

Pixiv Artist: 4713223

Girl in the snow with winged backpack and “ugu”;
A club kendo-fighting with blades of bamboo;
The first Bleach OP and the rush that it brings;
These are a few of my favorite things.

Pixiv Artist: 11253328

When the kids cry,
When the bills come,
When my wife is mad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Roger Ebert: Critic, Pundit, Skeptic, and Friend to Anime

Not long ago, I posted a beautiful anime-style short.  Following a trail from Twitter, I was led to the site where it was featured, and to my surprise, it was Rober Ebert’s website.  But, I was only surprised for a second – after all, the nation’s leading film critic (and the first to ever win the Pulitzer Prize) has championed anime for many years and Anime News Network has described him as a closet otaku.  He even wrote an article entitled “The Beauty of Anime.”  In fact, aside from John Lasseter, there’s likely no more powerful voice for anime in U.S. mainstream culture.

Source: Upvery.com

Roger Ebert should be familiar to most of you.  Forbes called him American’s #1 pundit (and in the Internet age, that designation is no small feat).  Then again, maybe I recognize him better than most because I religiously watched “At the Movies” as a child, wanting to weekly see him duke it out with his first partner, Gene Siskel.  Later, I continued to watch (and then read) because I realized: a) I agreed with him much more than not; b) even when I didn’t agree, I learned something from his reviews; and c) his writing is clear, calculated and wonderful.  Even if you’re not familiar with Ebert, you certainly are with his (official) trademark of the “thumbs up” and “thumbs down,” regarding movie recommendations.

When Ebert discusses anime films, he comes at it as an admirer of the form, as when he reviewed Ghost in the Shell or selected Akira as a “video pick of the week.”  The Great Movies section of his web site, which itself has become widely admired, includes both My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies on this list.  Think of that – two anime among a U.S. movie’s critics best movies of all time.  Read how he ends the Grave of the Fireflies review: